Stranded Again
by vigaku
Summary: A rewrite of a fic I wrote many years ago. Kai and Hilary are stuck on a remote island after the boat journey to the next tournament is rudely interrupted. KaixHilary, het, romance, fluff
1. Chapter 1

Another trip by ferry. Kai wondered why they couldn't have taken a plane. They had the funds – of course, they were the world's number one Beyblade team – why did they have to travel the slow, nausea-inducing way?

As Tyson bumped against his leg for the umpteenth time, Kai clenched his fists. He had a great deal of respect for Tyson, and for the rest of the team; their skill in the arena was undeniable. But sometimes Kai wondered why they couldn't just grow up. Sure they were technically still kids, even Kai, but didn't they have any kind of self-awareness? Wasn't fifteen too old to be play fighting? It was taking every ounce of his resolve not to lash out at his younger teammates. Ray appeared entirely unbothered by Tyson and Max's boisterousness, even seeming to find it amusing. He didn't join in but he looked up occasionally from the magazine he was reading, a smile on his face. Kenny had had the good sense to leave the room before the madness started.

They were all oblivious to Kai's inner turmoil. His stomach churned, his head throbbed, and he became vaguely aware that somebody nearby was talking. Were they talking to him? Slowly, reluctantly, he opened his eyes to see Hilary standing over him, bent at the waist, hands on her hips and frowning. His own eyebrows drew down into a scowl. Did she really expect that he could hear her with this racket going on around them?

"Kai! ..… decided … first … solo match?"

He caught snippets of her high pitched voice over the raucous laughter to his right. Yes, now was clearly the time to talk strategy. "Hilary, can't this wait?"

"What? Need to … this … now!" She yelled, making him wince as his head pounded just that little bit harder.

Apparently it could not wait. He groaned inwardly before forcing himself to his feet. His limbs were shaking, but he willed them still as he made his way out of the compartment and into the corridor. He hated that he got seasick. If the team knew, perhaps they might even have taken a plane instead, but he wouldn't let on to any form of weakness if he could help it. He didn't bother motioning for Hilary to follow – he would have preferred if she didn't, but he had to get out of that room regardless. Maybe he would see if he could keep some food down. He hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, in preparation for the journey, but even though it had prevented him from throwing up he was beginning to regret the decision.

"Where are you going?" Hilary called from behind him.

"To get something to eat." he answered without turning, and made for the stairs. He could hear her footsteps following along behind him. He prayed silently that whatever she wanted to talk about could at least wait until he was sitting down with a plate of hot food in front of him.

They were out on the deck, almost to the canteen when she broke the silence. "Umm… Kai? Did you hear that?" She stopped walking.

"Hear what?" he struggled to keep the annoyance from his voice.

When she didn't answer, he stopped and turned back. He followed her gaze and saw smoke rising from another part of the ship. Frenzied voices were shouting, he could see outlines of people rushing about inside. The gut-wrenching sound of metal on metal pierced their eardrums and the boat lurched, sending them both sprawling to the floor.

Pushing himself upright, he tried to gauge the situation. Everyone was shouting, crying, screaming, running about the deck in different directions. He looked out over the railing. He couldn't be sure, but the boat seemed closer to the water than it was before. He grabbed onto the metal and pulled himself up, his limbs shaking worse than ever.

"Hilary, we need to get to the lifeboats."

She was huddled into a ball, her arms wrapped around a rail, eyes tight shut. Kai nudged her with his foot, to little effect.

"Hilary! We need to move, now!"

The boat pitched again, he clung to the railing as the deck seemed to come out from under his feet and the sea rushed up to meet them. His chin hit the metal with a clang. He tasted blood and his tongue started to throb, tears welled in his eyes as an unbidden reaction to the pain. The first wave of cold water crested over the deck, knocking a few more people to their feet.

Hilary gasped and then spluttered as the salt water filled her mouth. In her sitting position the water had soaked her entirely. Ignoring the blossoming pain of his bitten tongue, Kai grabbed her firmly by the wrist and pulled her to her feet. "We have to get out of here, okay?"

She nodded solemnly, eyes wide, her mouth opening and closing like a stunned fish. Another wave of water crashed over as the boat sank further into the sea, sweeping Hilary off her feet and dragging Kai down with her. People were still running for the lifeboats, they paid no attention to the two teenagers on the floor as they stepped on body parts in their hurry to save themselves. Battered and bruised, Kai tried again to get to his feet, just as someone jumped over them, donating an always-welcome boot to the ear. He grimaced and instead pulled himself closer to the rails, dragging Hilary across with him.

Hilary was in bad shape. Her eyes were closed, he couldn't be sure if she had fainted or been knocked out by the rush of people. If he had to carry her, he needed to know exactly where he was going. He looked about frantically, trying to see where it was that the people were running to.

It was no good. There were only a few people left. Some waved their arms desperately at the retreating lifeboats. Some had already sunk to their knees in despair. The lifeboats were all gone. Had it really happened so quickly? There had to be enough lifeboats for everybody, some must have left half-filled.

It didn't matter now. He pulled Hilary onto his back and braced himself as the water overwhelmed the deck. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to swim. There was no other option, this was it…


	2. Chapter 2

Kai spluttered into consciousness, face down in the sand. Shaking from the cold, soaked from head to toe, he rolled himself onto his back. He blinked his bleary eyes and groaned. A wound near his left ear stung, his tongue was swollen and sore, his entire body ached. In that moment he couldn't be completely sure that he hadn't been hit by a truck. He cast his mind back to the last things he could remember: A boat on the way to a tournament in Italy... The boat sinking... Swimming for land... With Hilary on his back. He pushed himself into a sitting position and brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the blazing sun. He must have passed out in the water, he thought, and floated along to this beach. There was nobody in sight; no foot prints, no small creatures in the sand... Just a small person lying prone about a hundred feet away.

His body protested as he got to his feet and stumbled over to the body, flopped down to his knees and carefully turned her over. "Can you hear me? Hey! Hilary?" He shook her gently by the shoulder. Her wet brown hair was plastered across her face. He swept it aside and bent over her to check her breathing, but there was nothing. Her chest was still, no air left her nose or her mouth. "Ah, shit."

Immediately he got up on his knees, tilted back her head and pinched her nose, and breathed into her mouth. One breath, two breaths. Her chest rose and fell, but there was no change in her condition. He braced his hands against her chest and started pumping rhythmically. He had never done this before, what if he wasn't doing it right? What if it was too late? Was he pressing too hard? Not hard enough? It was so different to practicing on a dummy.

He tried to remain calm as he bent down to her mouth again. One breath, two breaths - She started to cough, and he tilted her to her side by the shoulder as she choked up the water that had entered her lungs. She breathed in gasps between coughs, hungry for air. Kai's own breathing was ragged as fell back onto the sand and tried to process what had just happened. He exhaled profanities as he tried to force himself to stop shaking.

"Kai?" she rasped, then coughed again, "Wh-where are we? What happened, where is everyone?"

She stared at him, waiting for answers that he couldn't give. His face was pale and stricken, and he seemed just as confused as she was. "You don't remember? The boat…" he looked towards the sea as if looking for it, "The boat sank. I think we're the only ones here."

She looked around for the first time. The wide sandy beach stretched on as far as she could see. There was nothing on the horizon: no boats, no other islands. Behind them was a dense forest of tall palms and other trees that Hilary didn't know the names of. "We could be anywhere..."

"Mm." Kai nodded.

They stayed there for a while, neither of them speaking as they battled internally with their thoughts and emotions. As the adrenaline rush wore off, Kai experienced new sensations of agony in parts he never realised could hurt. With great difficulty, he pushed the thoughts of pain aside to consider what they should do now. They didn't know where they were, how far from civilisation, when they would be found or even _if_ they would be found. They would have to plan to sustain themselves here if necessary, for an unknown length of time.

Hilary was still in a daze. Her chest felt sore and her throat burned. She watched Kai from behind as he stared out to sea, and she noticed the bruising on his arm and the patch of dried blood near his ear. If she had the strength to grasp the situation, she might have panicked - might have waved her arms and yelled to the ocean and the trees for help. But she was so tired she almost wanted to lie down in that very spot and never get up again. Half mesmerised, she studied the bruises on her own arms and legs, wondering at what point she had sustained them. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but Kai probably didn't know any more than she did.

"Do you think... the others made it out okay?" Her voice was barely audible over the sound of the waves lapping at the sand.

Kai inhaled and exhaled deeply as he considered what to say. Should he be optimistic, and give her hope even though he hadn't seen them escape? Should he be realistic - after all, they were down in their room when everything happened and even Kai and Hilary, who had been on the deck when everything started, hadn't managed to make it to the lifeboats? He was silent for so long that she wasn't sure he had heard.

"I don't know." he said at last, and then dragged himself to his feet with a grimace. When he was reasonably sure he wasn't going to fall over, he rearranged his face into what he hoped was a stoic expression and turned to Hilary. "We should get moving."

She nodded and stood up as well. Clearly overestimating her own balance, she flung out her hands to steady herself as she wobbled, using Kai's shoulders for balance. He tried not to let the pain that surged through his legs and torso show on his face as he struggled to maintain his balance. "If you can't stand, you should wait here." he suggested, knowing that he wouldn't be able to support her weight as well as his own.

"What? No, I'm not staying here alone! There might be scorpions, or cannibals or... or anything. Or what if you get lost or hurt and I don't know where you are?"

Kai sighed. Perhaps aside from the cannibals, these were valid points, but they didn't change the fact that he wouldn't be able to help her walk. He looked at the sun's position in the sky. "We only have a few hours left until the sun sets. We're not going to get far tonight if you can barely stand up. I say we collect some twigs for an SOS, and some leaves for coverage. We'll rest and then make a move tomorrow."

Hilary nodded more enthusiastically this time, "Good! Let's do that. That sounds good."

He gently dislodged her hands from his shoulders and made his way to the edge of the tree line. He would have been able to find bigger branches further in but he didn't want Hilary to freak out if she lost sight of him. So he set to work gathering twigs and stones for their signal, ignoring his grumbling hollow stomach and the pain that encompassed him. As slowly as Kai was moving, Hilary was even slower, her movements occasionally punctuated with a whimper or a gasp. She could see that Kai was struggling too, as much as he tried to hide it. Sometimes when he bent to pick something up, a pained expression flickered over his features. It would be a bad idea to mention it, she knew. He had his reasons for pretending to be fine, and it wouldn't help the situation to push it, so she busied herself with gathering leaves to make their 'coverage' as Kai worked on a giant 'SOS' in the sand.

Some hours later, the sun sat on the horizon line, turning everything shades of pink and orange. Their clothes and hair had dried off, and their SOS signal was finished; Kai only hoped the tide would not come in any further. The markings and debris around the beach suggested that it wouldn't, which was good since they would be sleeping there for the night. Hilary had been threading the leaves together into two reasonably sized makeshift blankets. Her arms were leaden and her fingers sore, but she worked with determination until she thought they were big enough to cover them. She spread them out on the ground. "There!" She said, the satisfaction clear in her voice.

Kai was glad to have a reason to stop his search for food. He hadn't expected to find much without going deeper into the forest, or out into the water. He patted his hands on his trousers and went to pick up the leaf blankets. "Good." He said and took them over to a cluster of rocks jutting out from the sand. There was only a light breeze, so the shelter wasn't entirely necessary, but he would feel safer with less angles to be seen from. He just hoped that any inhabitants who might happen upon them would be friendly. He didn't see Hilary's pout at a lack of praise for her work. She seemed to overcome the slight quickly though, perhaps realising she was unlikely ever to receive praise from Kai, and joined him over by the rocks. He had placed her 'blanket' next to the rock and then settled into a sitting position with his. He would try to stay awake to keep a look out, but he expected he wouldn't last long.

However despite their exhaustion, sleep wouldn't come. Their minds raced as they considered the implications of their being stuck here, dwelling on the possibility that they might never be rescued. Their biggest hope was to find civilisation when they set out tomorrow. And that it was a small island.

"I'm glad it's you." Hilary broke the silence.

"Hm?"

"I-I just..." She stammered, instantly regretting having said anything, "It's just that, of all the guys in the team, if there's anyone who can get us through this... It's you."

Not knowing what to say, Kai remained silent.

"Tyson, or Max, you know... they'd be freaking out, and then I'd be freaking out, and Kenny, he wouldn't know what to do without his technology. Maybe Ray would stay calm but I bet he wouldn't know what to do. He's not a leader... like you." She continued to ramble, embarrassed by her confession. Kai had been taken completely off-guard. He was rarely complimented on anything outside of Beyblading, and even then he would usually respond with arrogance. At that moment he didn't possess the wit or the will to be sarcastic. The tension mounted with each second that he failed to respond. His brain raced for possible responses and he felt his heart beating hard in his chest, until finally she said quietly, "Good night, Kai."

He was thankful that she couldn't see the mingled relief and humiliation on his face. "Good night." He murmured.


End file.
